This invention relates to the sensing of the state of a display, and more particularly to the sensing of the state of a display and coordinating that state with the state of a media device. Conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) displays produce electromagnetic radiation or interference (EMI) related to the scan rate of the electron beam from the CRT. The on/off state of a CRT display may be sensed by narrow band detecting the presence of this EM radiation (e.g. using a first bandpass filter centered at the scan frequency and a second bandpass filter centered at the first harmonic of the scan frequency, each with a bandwidth of approximately ⅓ octave) at a location proximate to the CRT display. However, other display types such as rear projection, LCD and plasma displays do not utilize a scanning beam to produce an image. Known means of display state detection therefore cannot effectively detect the state of other display types.